Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Something wrong with my M80

I think something is wrong on one of the M80. The twitter stops and then i tap or slowly rock the speaker, i can hear the sound from twitter...

There have been no accidents with the speaker..so surprised..

What do i do?? call Noreen or any suggestions before i do so.

As always..help appreciated.

Avi

If you call Axiom 800 tech support, the first thing they will probably have you do is remove the front tweeter in question and see if all the wire connections are secure and not loose. Noreen would not be the one to call, you would call the 800 number and get Brent, JC, Alan, or whoever is on call at that time.

Yup, sounds like perhaps a loose connection.

finally worked with tech support.
The connections are intact, so they are shipping me a pair of twitters. Hope it will fix it.

BUT, while i was doing the listening test, me 2 yr old pushed the dome on the mid-range
Can somebody point me to the masking tape trick on how to fix the issue. Tech said it doesnot cause any issue to sound but its bugging me

Google gave these..makes me nervous

Instructions

Step 1
Place a cardboard tube on top of the dome and suck the dent out with your mouth. This is a good method for very soft cones which could be damaged by the methods below.

Step 2
Stick a piece of masking tape onto the dent and gently pull up on it. Try to pull the dent out with the tape. You can also try using duct tape, but it may leave a sticky residue on the speaker dome.

Step 3
Place a shop vac hose or a hose attached to a normal house vacuum directly over the vent. Turn on the vacuum. As soon as the dent pops out, turn off the vacuum. Do not attempt to pull it off the speaker dome while it is turned on! This is similar to the method in step 1, but more powerful. Try the first method first, since this can rip some thin silk or plastic speaker domes.

Step 4
Bend a small pin at a right angle and poke it through the center of the dent. Turn the pin so that the bent part is perpendicular to the dent and pull it straight up. When the dent pulls out, turn the pin again so that it slides out of the speaker dome.

Step 5
Glue the end of a dowel or a block of wood onto the dent with hot glue. Hold it still until the glue dries and cools (about 20 seconds). Then, pull the dent out by pulling the piece of wood away from it. Once you have pulled the dent out, peel off the glue.

The best method for fixing a dented dust cap is to learn to live with it. Any method you use to pull it out risks separating the dusk cap from the cone. So unless it’s become partially separated in which case you’ll likely hear buzzing at certain frequencies I’d leave it alone.

I think these will work about as well.

Step 6
Wiggle something small on a thin stick in front of it where a cat that still has it's claws can see it.

Step 7
Apply paste to the end of a toddlers finger and tell him/her to poke at it.

Step 8
Hold a lighted match in front of it really close and hope that it will heat up and expand the air inside of it.

Here is the video that axiom put together:
(complete with background music)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFbvhokVrPI

I've always wanted to know if it was that easy but never wanted to go push in on one to test it.

The masking tape works if the dent is recent. Otherwise, I've had to go with the vacuum.

I've used a vacuum attachment with no issues. Start a distance away and gradually move towards the cone.

place the grille on the speaker and you will not see it

I really want to run with my grills off for a while.. did that for a month or two when I first got 'em but have had the grills on ever since.

Problem is, we have a cat now and she really does leave my speakers alone... However the one time I started to take my grill cover off she started reaching up toward the speakers with her paws.

She really likes sleeping on my ep500 though, even during loud action movies.. Maybe it's like a massage chair or something

Well, that calls for a cat massage. .

That is one low-frequency cat :-)

Thnx for the axiom video..gives me some confidence to try it.

I can't imagine that a cat would be able to do much to aluminum woofers. They've surprised me before, though.

Maybe not one of the domesticated cats.

This worked well for me, too.

You have a point, CV.

Avi - Go with step 1. It works great! One of my kids' friends dented one of my drivers too. Make sure there's no dust inside the tube before sucking! You are in total control of the suck amount and you can hear the cone pop out (no vacuum noise) to know when to quit sucking. Less chance of damage than the vacuum method. But not nearly as dignified. BTW - the vacuum method didn't work for me but step 1 did. I guess I suck more than my vacuum. Or maybe my vacuum just sucks.

I have witnessed options #1 and #2 in action successfully de-denting a cone. Though #1 didn't involve a cardboard tube; just lips directly on the dented cone.

I've heard of #3 & #5, though have never heard of anyone needing to go to that much trouble as 1 & 2 usually work.

There's no way I'd do #4.

If it really bothers you (it would drive me insane) and you can't pop it, option #9 would be to just call Axiom and buy another driver and replace the dented one. I'm pretty sure they will sell you an individual driver, and I don't even think they're that expensive. Yes, yes, overkill for a problem that doesn't affect the SQ, but if you're really picky about how your gear looks, it is a solution.

Good luck.

I recently used option 2 successfully (masking tape), after I left my 2 year old briefly unsupervised with the grills off. I'll never make that mistake again!

Unfortunately the metal dome tweeter did not fare as well and I had to replace it. This was over at my in-laws house after just installing their brand new HT, so leaving things dented was simply not an option.

Dan, I wouldn't count on the grills stopping a two year old at all. Mine was in the habit for awhile of "patting" the speakers.

"Nice speaker, nice speaker"

"Hmmm, smart kid. He never does that with Bose"

Ken, I think she's like me - sees something shiny and gets all focused on it Put the grills on and there's nothing shiny to attract her!

There's good and bad to this story.
The good - it wasn't my speakers
The bad - it was my in-laws brand new Paradigms that I just installed for them. I could not leave them with 'damaged goods' that my kid caused.

However our local dealer replaced the tweeter under warranty. That was pretty darn nice of him given the cause.

That was no problem for him and he most likely gets reimbursed for his troubles for doing so as it was done under 'warranty'.

My oldest son took a stick to the aluminum section of one of the drivers on my M22's way back when, because I had left the grills off, luckily only a tiny dent was the result and I can not hear any differences.

so got an email from Noreen..they shipped the tweeters and fedex is taking it own time

I tried the tube-vacuum option and it didnot work..

will give the masking tape a try when my 2 yr old is at daycare. She loves music and also wants to pat the M80 for a job well done.
With my second kid due in May, i dread what will happen to my beloved M80s. This one is a boy..so more electronics inclination and destruction..hope Axioms comeout with some M100 in a few years and we all can upgrade once kids are grown up.

If the new tweeters do not fix the issue, this M80 will have to go back..i guess.

Can't the kids go back?

I got the fedex delivery..there are no instructions with the package..
anything i need to know before i swap those?

Plan to do the swap this weekend

--Avi

Prolly too late but I'd take lots of pictures before the delivery guys get hold of it.